


Escape

by PerfectlyHopeless



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Escape from slavery, Gen, Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 14:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13437078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectlyHopeless/pseuds/PerfectlyHopeless
Summary: Long before she was the Grand Champion, Arcyni was another of many trapped by the Empire.(Background for my cathar hunter)





	Escape

Arcyni lost her home when she was a girl. Imperial slavers killing her parents and taking her and her brother away. It was the last time she'd ever see him again before she was put on an auction block. Cathar children were just tools, and the girls turned into women who become slaves of another kind. 

Arcyni held onto her name as much as she could. She refused to let it go. Keeping her identity was all that she had left. She never told anyone her name, allowing the xenophobic Imps keeping her to call her whatever they wanted. Usually they just stuck with “Cathar”, as she was the only one of her kind on the property. She was reluctant to follow orders, only doing enough to avoid passing out from her shock collar. She mostly kept to herself, but there was one other. 

He was known as Juno, a scrawny twi’lek who was a few years older than her. Arcyni and him were the only non-humans among the others, instinctively going to each other for some amount of safety. They kept each other safe as best they could.

The plan was made when Juno came of age, becoming a young adult. Arcyni was about 15 standard years old. They knew where the master kept the collar controls, and that he kept a pistol in a lock box in the master bedroom. Juno would take care of the weapon. Arcyni was in charge of getting the collar remote. Both required care and some amount of stealthiness. 

Arcyni had to be first to succeed, the collars reacting if they got too close to the lock box. Her opportunity came when the master had his hands full catering to his guests. More Imperials with holier than thou attitudes, the kind that made her feel sick. She kept a close eye on him, playing the fool and pretending to be intrigued by what was happening. Her distraction coupled with the situation allowed her to pickpocket the little remote right from his belt. She retreated to the kitchen to rendezvous with Juno. The cook was out in the garden, giving the two a chance to be alone. Arcyni helped Juno remove the collar.

She had no idea how he expected to be able to get into their master’s lock box, but his confidence was inspiring. Arcyni kept up the act as the curious, silent kitten, keeping the guests and members of the household entertained for the rest of the evening. She didn’t see Juno until later that evening, his collar back on to keep up appearances. 

“Where is it?” she said just under her breath, her eyes glancing at the armed guard in the hall. She quickly bowed her head, looking at her feet and scratching at the base of her skull. 

“Safe,” was all Juno said, the words barely audible as they returned to the slave quarters. The door to the slave quarters closed behind them, the room dimly lit by a couple sconces on the walls. They weren’t the last to arrive, a few of the beds still unoccupied. 

Arcyni took the bed next to her friend and hid under the covers, removing the little remote from her pocket and deactivating her collar. Her eyes closed and rolled back in her head, the relief she felt from its removal the greatest thing she had ever experienced. 

“Careful,” he said to her, knowing full well what she was doing. Arcyni poked her head out from under the blanket, looking at him with her bright golden eyes. 

“When?” she asked carefully. 

Juno glanced at the doors as the last of the other slaves walked in. He smiled. “Soon.”

Arcyni nodded, staying under her blanket and keeping a watchful eye on Juno. They would have to move quickly once they began. It was only a matter of time before their master realized the controller was missing, and though it was unlikely he would even notice the lock box had been broken into, it was still a matter left up to fate. But she trusted him. And even if they got caught, at least they tried. And if they were killed, then at least they were free from this place.

They waited until the house had settled, everyone but the guards asleep. 

She’d almost nodded off when she felt herself shaking, Juno silently telling her to get up. Arcyni helped him remove his collar, following close behind him as they went to the door. Juno knocked on it thrice, softly and quickly. From the other side came two slow knocks before the door opened. Arcyni stiffened at the sight of a guard. Human. 

“You ready?” he asked them, his deep voice lacking an Imperial accent. His hair seemed to be far too grey for how young his dark face was, though he spoke with an authority Arcyni knew only came with age. 

“Yeah, we are,” Juno said. 

The guard nodded, handing them both little bracelets with holoprojectors. He gave Juno a pistol, likely the one the twi’lek had stolen “We’re right in between rotation, you’ll need to hurry. Follow the paths on here and you’ll be fine. I’ll meet you at the back entrance to get you the rest of the way.”

Arcyni stared at him, brows furrowed a little. “Who are you?”

“I’m here to help you,  _ ad’ika _ ,” he said, glancing down the hall. “If we all get out of this in one piece, I’ll tell you everything. Now get moving.”

She nodded, fastening the bracelet around her wrist and letting Juno take the lead again. She stayed close behind him, her breath catching in her throat whenever they were nearly caught. Her heart pounded as she pressed her back flat against the wall, her eyes closing tight until Juno tugged on her sleeve. Then they would press on. She could hardly believe it when she saw the sky, the full moon high above her and the stars shining bright. 

“Come on,” Juno said to her, grabbing her sleeve and dragging her alongside him. The dark skinned guard from before waved them over, a speeder ready for them. 

“We don’t have much time before someone realizes I’m not at my post,” the guard said. “Let’s get moving.” He looked to Arcyni, “You’re first,  _ ad’ika. _ ”

Arcyni nodded, taking the guard’s hand as he helped her into the back of the speeder. She froze when she heard a bang, followed by a squishy, splashing sound. She watched in horror as her only friend fell to the ground with a bullet wound to the head, blood and gore spilling from the hole in his skull. 

“Fuck,” the guard cursed, pushing her into the seat. “Get down!”

She obeyed, taking the pistol he handed to her. Her hands shook as she heard the sounds of shouting and gunfire. The guard turned on a kinetic barrier around the speeder, starting it and driving down the path. 

“ _ Ad’ika!  _ Listen to me!” he shouted. “We’ve got a few of them following us on swoop bikes, they’ll catch up if we don’t do something. See that blaster I gave you?”

“Yes, sir!” she said, breathing deeply to try and steady herself. 

“The shields will keep any of their gunfire from getting in, but can let ours get out. You want to survive this? I need you to get them off our tail!”

Arcyni nodded. “Okay!” 

Slowly she rose from the seat, holding the blaster pistol with both hands. They still shook as she stared down the barrel at the bikes chasing them down the forested property. The mansion was quickly becoming nothing more than just a small piece of the background, and the idea of her freedom turned into her reality. Arcyni found her hands steadying as she narrowed her eyes, taking aim and firing at the bike closest to them. 

The guard fell back off of the bike, his limp body tumbling on the ground while the bike crashed into the one beside it. Arcyni shielded her eyes from the resulting explosion, bits of guard and bike scattering. 

“Look out!” she shouted to her ally. 

“Hold on tight!”

She dropped the blaster on the seat and clung to the cushions as he swerved out of the way of the incoming bike pieces, inertia the only thing holding her in place as she tried not to fly out of the speeder. 

He laughed heartily, whooping with victory. “Yeah! Good shot,  _ ad’ika!  _ That your first time with a blaster?”

“Yeah,” she admitted as she righted herself, picking up the pistol again and resuming her work picking off the bikes one by one. Not all of them exploded, most just veering off and crashing against the trees or jagged rocks that jutted out of the hilly landscape. 

“Should be mostly safe now, keep an eye out. Name’s Karson, by the way,” her friend said. 

“Arcyni,” she said, her name passing through her lips for the first time since she was taken by the slavers. “You’re not Imperial.”

He chuckled. “Got that from my accent, did you? You’re right, I’m not. Before you ask, I’m not Republic either. Mandalorian.”

“Why would you help us?”

“I took up guard duty for the credits, but I’ve never been fond of slavers. Your friend was bold enough to ask for the help. You, uh, have my condolences for your loss.”

Arcyni shook her head, steeling herself. “We knew the risks. I figured one of us wasn’t making it out of there.”

Karson looked at her reflection in his rear view mirror. “Sometimes you get lucky. How’re we looking back there? My sensors aren’t reading anything around us.”

“I don’t see any of those swoop bikes. I think they’re gone.”

“Good,” Karson said, breathing out a sigh of relief. “Listen,  _ ad’ika,  _ I’m taking you to meet a friend of mine. Owes me a favor. Smuggler, goes by Ana. She’ll get you set up with papers, maybe teach you a couple things. Juno told me your were mute with your owners, they ever learn your name?”

“No, never,” she said. 

“Good,” he repeated. “Starting out fresh is always better when no one knows who you are. Ana will take care of you once we get to the docks. You’ll likely never see me again.”

Her brows furrowed. “Why not?”

“I just broke my contract with my employer,” he explained. “Imps don’t take kindly to people reminding them they aren’t all powerful.”

Arcyni sat down in the back of the speeder, keeping her hand on the pistol but turning the safety on. 

The journey from there consisted of a lot of sneaking around. Arcyni’s master had put a search out for his traitor guard who had kidnapped his slave. Arcyni never referred to herself as such. She was her own person now. And this person had a blaster and vaguely knew how to use it. 

Ana met them outside of the spaceport, already prepared to take Arcyni off of Karson’s hands. She was a nice woman, her accent unfamiliar to the girl. All that mattered was that she wasn’t Imperial, and that was good enough for her. 

Karson allowed Arcyni to keep the blaster, a token to remember him by. She was grateful for this. As she and Ana prepped the ship to leave, Arcyni found herself a porthole. The slightest of smiles touched her face as she silently bid farewell to the planet that had made her life a hell, all the while a making a promise to herself to come back someday to kill the bastard that had kept her prisoner. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. Friendly reminder that constructive criticism is both welcomed and encouraged. 
> 
> Thank you for reading <3


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